Redefining clinical leadership for team-course development

Abstract

Objective: Value choices are rooted in the philosophical deliberations of Aristotle, Levinas and Gadamer. Balancing the needs of “the other” with societal and institutional needs to meet the objectives of “the cause” is core to the modern health systems priority setting debate. These value conflicts present themselves bed-side in the day-to-day decision-making processes. A clinical leadership (CL) framework should present solutions to this challenge.Methods: The definition of CL is redefined to include four key values involved in this value conflict. These are 1) trust, 2) quality, 3) responsiveness and 4) efficiency. A CL in Teams course curriculum and design was developed to link these values to tools and to context in the hospital.Results: A new definition of CL has provided a common formative framework useful in clinical settings for priority setting, evaluation and professional development. By the end of 2015 a total of 82 participants will have completed the course. It has been evaluated to be timely, feasible, flexible, relevant and sustainable.Conclusions: Values influence how clinical leaders operate and have an important impact on their leadership abilities and how they respond to challenges. For clinical leaders and teams to work effectively it is crucial to develop common basic values. Developing a set of tools and reflective practice to understand the inter-relationship between values and how they can conflict or reinforce each other, contributes to improved quality of service, patient-centred care and workforce satisfaction.